What a joke. Why am I not surprised by this. You say you want to show how you go above and beyond and then go and threaten to not volunteer at Halloween at the Hills? Parsippany Teachers have been treated very well over the years it's ridiculous. I really hope that the GOOD teachers of Parsippany do the right thing and volunteer for Halloween at the Hills.

The teachers are getting terrible advice from the union. Wouldn't "Teachers volunteer their time despite ongoing contract dispute" have been a much better headline!?!?!?! The union once again makes the average person more unsympathetic to their situation.

The teachers claim to be there for the children and are willing to use them to try and make the BOE look bad. They claim they are disrespected yet they resort to childish union tactics to try and force what? There unrealistic demand be met?
To Judy Mayer and her union cronies. Where is the respect for the citizens of this town who are paying the freight on your demands?
I was always taught that in order to get respect you need to give respect. But your teachers so you already know that. Right?
My apologies to all of the teachers who are there for the children and do not agree with their union leadership on their actions but they are your leaders and you helped put them there so you need to share the burden of their childish and selfish actions.
BOE stand firm. Don't let these selfish tactics sway you.

What letter to the parents? Certainly did not come home or through digital backpack!

It got sent to Patch. The letter to Patch was a message to the parents. Am I correct Natalie?

You are correct, Steve. It was delivered to me anonymously and I confirmed with Judy Mayer that it was genuine.

So if you are a parent who isn't following the story on Patch you wouldn't know about it. Well thank you Natalie for keeping who are following informed!

Why should teachers be forced to volunteer? Certain additional activities should be included in their contracts - since they get paid too much, get too many benefits and work much less than than full-time, non-teachers.

It would be better if Satanic Halloween cult rituals did not take place in schools.

Teachers should not have to volunteer their time. If we as a society respected teachers at all we would praise them and reward them versus implying they are over paid and get all this time off.

It is not like you are asking other professions to come in to work for free "for the children".

As for doing this as a negotiation technique, how well has their past effort of continuing to volunteer and work well beyond the mandatory hours worked out for them? I can see the BOE has rushed to the table to reward them for all their hard work and give them a contract.

Are both sides of the contract negotiations known? What are the sticking points? Why has it taken two years for a new contract?

Why is it taking so long for my comment to go through?

You think teachers are the only people who volunteer their time? Also like the one guy said Those who want respect give respect and there are ALOT of teachers who are disrespectful Also can you honestly tell me Parsippany Teachers have not been treated good these 4 to 5 years? They have been treated great not good. I for one am glad the Board of Education isn't giving into what I'm sure are ridiculous requests. No more 4 percent raises in this tough economy.

Gee Steve, Kevin and Mike, it's magnanimous of you to advocate teachers volunteer their free time to take care of YOUR child! Teachers routinely give above and beyond the call of duty, but that's not enough for you, is it. Now they SHOULD give their free time, away from their family, so that your child can enjoy an activity. And furthermore they should do it willingly and with a smile although they are entering their second year without a contract. Would you work without knowing how much you were going to be paid for your time? When was the last time you volunteered time to your employer without compensation? People who need to work for a paycheck - and I assume that includes you - do so to pay their phone, electric and mortgage bills like everyone else. So why shouldn't a teacher know what their compensation is going to be before spending time at "work"? You certainly wouldn't work without knowing how much per hour or week you would be paid! And give back - you'd scoff at the thought! Get real here and support teachers who take care of your kids more hours of the day than you do! Who teach your kids social skills that you did not teach them! They deserve our support without having to demand it.
PS: No I am not a teacher, nor a parent of a Parsippany student, nor a spouse of a Parsippany teacher. So I hope you consider my comments objectively.

A good organization (including a school system) works well only when the 2 sides respect each other. Not the case in Parsippany. The Board of Education has REPEATEDLY refused to even negotiate in good faith for 2 years. Teachers are angry ( as should be the parents). Teachers are asking to reach a compromise, but the BOE has ignored them 100%. Every year teachers salaries DECLINE while prices for gas, food, etc. go up. As for volunteering, may be the BOE will realize the extra services teachers provide NOT in their contract. Those of you in business do not volunteer your time at your place of work. Does your mechanic,, doctor, gardener, or lawyer Volunteer their time. Support your teachers who have worked hard and shown results instead of asking them to be poor. or

You don't have to MAKE $100,000 for your job to be VALUED AT $100,000. It's typical for benefits -- SocSec, retirement, medical, dental, unemployment, tuition reimbursement, professional dues -- to cost between 35 and 40% of the total cost of an employee... or nearly as much as the salary received.

DEFINITION OF BLACKMAIL:

As you may be aware, the [PTHEA] has been without a contract for the past year. As the Board of Education has been unwilling to negotiate our proposals or to work with us to find a path to a compromise, we have decided to refrain from volunteering our own personal time beyond the agreed-upon work hours.

Apparently, teachers have little feeling of uneasiness or anxiety of the conscience caused by regret for causing pain.

Teachers certainly know how to alienate the taxpayers.

Teachers: If I don't get what I want I will retaliate.

Let's have all the staff on the BOE volunteer their time to make sure these activities still happen. Dr. Seitz and all the administrators can go and take over all these activities until the contract issues have been settled.

Come on, "It's for the children"!

Analli I agree , Parents today rely on the care our teachers provide to all the kids. Was there a two year delay for Mr.Seitz contract ? Hard nosed deliberating ? or is that the contract that was resolved early without any deliberation. Something stinks here and it is not the bad fruit from the school lunchroom!

I don't mind volunteering my time. Also I've lost pay by volunteering my time because you know how many times I was up at Park Road helping get the field ready for the Brooklawn game because Mr. Neglia and my father let them use the field so they din't have to play at that swamp. You think I billed either the league or Board of Education for my time that I was doing that? No because sometimes you do things because it's the right thing to do. Also I'm a VOLUNTEER umpire for LIttle League which means I don't get paid. Sometimes I work 3 hour games double headers and every single minute of it is volunteering. Also I don't care whether or not the teachers are not volunteering if the superintendent let's the community participate.

Patrick I don't have any kids in the district. And I'm a pretty recent graduate of the Hills and you don't know what really goes on in the school where as I've seen things and more things. You might just be going by the test scores but inside the school itself whole different story. I guarantee if you saw some of the things teachers did and said and how they acted most people's opinions on them would change. The HIB law forgot the biggest bully in the state. The Teacher. Oh I hope I don't get detention for speaking my mind.

Menaker, I'm on your side but if you want your opinion taken seriously skip the personal attacks, there's no reason for that.

Patrick it was obviously aimed at me. Also Mrs. Menaker I have no issues with any teacher at Eastlake and loved all my teachers at Eastlake and I remember you and I think you're a very nice lady. I do work it just so happened that today is my day off. I have no issue with good teachers who are nice and respectful I do have an issue with some of the teachers I had in Highschool. Also, your friend Mrs. Gifford who helped mt out so much when I was younger taught me it was okay to be different. When I got to Highschool I had teachers who because I was different and rubbger stamped it in my face. I'm not judging the Eastlake teachers or the Brooklawn teachers at all. I'm judging the Hills Teachers and the Hills Administrators and their superiors who did nothing to stop it. I loved Eastlake and I loved my Eastlake teachers and went back last year to congradulate both Mrs. Ward and Mrs. Scatton on their retirements. If you think I'm the troublemaker who was disrupting class and always getting detention it's not the case. Take care.

2001 Eastlake graduate. Steve Revette.

Are teachers hourly or salaried? I am salaried and the last time I had to work longer than my regular hours it was not considered volunteer it was getting my job done. Sometimes I work 12 hour days and weekends if its busy. It's considered my job not volunteer work.

As a parent of a student at the Hills, I would like to comment. I am shocked to hear the things some of these teachers say in class, however it is balanced out by the wonderful teachers who go over and above. This is just part of every day life as we see it in the workplace. Students should absorb from teachers who love their jobs, and are great educators and ignore the inappropriate comments from those who do not. Tenure is ridiculous creating job security in place of needed change. In corporate paid benefits,salary increases and bonuses were lost years ago. Working until 7 or 8 pm, weekends, holidays and on vacation has become the norm with NO extra compensation. We are happy to have a job, that has not been sent off shore. The workforce has changed -teachers are no different. They should embrace their job that cannot be outsourced. They influence on a large number of students. Those teachers who truly entered this profession for the love of teaching and education, will rise to the occasion, just as we have in other professions. Don't look back, look forward and continue to embrace your self worth and great influence you can make on many students in such a rewarding position. If this is diffcult to do, then perhaps you need to change professions. Good luck in finding a job.

Approximately 98.6% of teachers at Parsippany Hills hold a Master's degree, or higher. Workers in both the private and public sectors need to be treated with respect. Just because people in the private sector have lost benefits or are taken advantage of is no reason to attack teachers or wish on them the same unfair treatment people experience in the private sector. What type of mentality is that? In other words we would be a better society if we all had miserable working conditions? Unbelievable. Why the envy and anger towards professionals who are experts in their field and who are transferring knowledge and analytical skills to the new generations? Education is NOT a business but a right given to every child in this country. The value of learning is not always tangible BUT it's essential to our society. Teachers have impacted EVERY worker/professional currently in the work force. People have a choice of paying over $20,000 for k-12 private education. Of the 8 to $12,000 that you pay in taxes, only 4 go to public education. All education in invaluable, whether it’s private or public. You choose. Many people do not understand tenure. Having tenure does not mean that teachers are not evaluated. Students evaluate their teachers every day and the administration conducts rigorous observations throughout the year. Teachers must keep current with their subject matter and therefore must attend workshops and courses. Teachers teach because they love teaching.

To misinformed critics - Teachers arrive in school at about 7:15 am. They work until 2:35 (contractual time) but bring their work home every day, so I would say that they work between 14 to 18 hours a day, including another 4 to 6 hours on Saturday and 6 to 8 hours on Sunday. They teach 80 to 100 students a day. Teachers give 10 to 12 assessments per class per marking period in five different 5, sometimes 6 classes.. Teachers spend the school day teaching, photocopying, traveling to multiple classrooms, and attending meetings, leaving very little time for anything else, all of which gets done at home. Teachers spend their evenings writing lesson plans, grading, inputting grades, emailing students and parents, completing progress reports, rewriting curriculum, editing and rewriting exams, updating Moodle pages, and writing letters of recommendation for college. They spend after school hours attending club meetings, doing fundraisers, attending P/T conferences, & giving extra help, because they consider it part of their job and professional responsibility; they do care. They also attend conferences and workshops on Saturdays to complete the state mandated 100 hours of professional development. People who don’t teach are completely oblivious to everything I have just written. I love my job and would not do anything else in this world. However it saddens me to see so much misinformation from people who are successful members of society thanks to public education.

Concerned Teacher I do appreciate all the good things Teachers did for me. I for one do not question whether or not you work enough hours because I wouldn't know as I was never a teacher nor do I plan on becoming a teacher. However I do know that teachers can get away with ALOT of things that other people could not. Also if your a Parsippany Teacher and you believe ALL your co workers are wonderful teachers I respect that, however from my own personal experience I believe otherwise.

Teacher what about the other teachers because you and I both know that there are many PARSPPANY teachers who are nothing like that. What about the teachers who see bullying but do nothing about it? What about the teachers that are doing the bullying? What about the teachers who don't even show up for their scheduled class? Also you think Teachers are the only profession that takes their work home? I got calls all during the night from work because of customer complaints and stuff like that. Also I couldn't care less about what kind of degree teachers have doesn't make them a good teacher because I know that there is not 98 percent good Teachers in any school district. I don't have a degree and many of the people I have trained said I taught them so much at my job. To be honest I was thinking about going into Education when I was a freshman in Highschool Because I was so good with kids and loved school. Two years later everything changed and I wanted to drop out of school altogether and everything that happened I didn't even want to go to college never mind become a teacher because of the people you think deserve RESPECT.